So, this happened. After a powerful lesson in Dr. Littleton’s class, she gave us a worksheet titled, “Understanding Privilege.”
Wow! As I stood to walk out of class, I was confronted with a term I had little knowledge of, “privilege.” Then, the word “understanding” set off bells in head. I was momentarily stunned by the memories that rushed back to me and the time that my white privilege saved me. You see, I went back to a time when I battled addictions and lived the life of an addict and all of bad habits that followed. You have no idea of how I prayed for understanding, something I didn’t have at the time. But how can I understand privilege or my white privilege, if I never knew it existed. I’ve never heard of white privilege before I arrived at class today; not that it would have mattered, I was living my life.
While sitting in class, I recall looking around the room and feeling in my spirit that I am here today seated in this class among my peers because of my white privilege. The vast majority of the students seated in my class today will never experience the benefit of my unearned privilege, my white privilege.
In my opinion, white privilege is not something many people will ever fully understand…to a certain extent. By that I mean, how can you understand something you can’t experience? You might be thinking that she thinks she’s better than me! But, that couldn’t be further from the truth. It’s my white unearned privilege that says I have an inherent advantage and as much as I would like to apologize, I cannot apologize. In fact, I thank God that I have it.
But wait! I am a single white woman with three “baby daddies” and my recovery has become my albatross. The struggle is real! Yet, I realize my struggle was a choice and not my birth right. To deny my white privilege would be like giving away my rights to a good life. I’ve already done that before. You see, I can clearly recall that day in court where I was sentenced as a felon and had my rights taken away. Here’s where my privilege manifested and became real and obvious. For my crimes, I was sentenced to do my time, six months in rehab WITH my children. As a white woman, I was given a second chance at life. In stark contrast, my Mexican-American co-defendant was given five years in prison WITHOUT the opportunity for rehabilitation. We were there for making the very same bad choices. THANK GOD for my white privilege or who knows where my children or I would be today!
…
As a white woman, I may never be able to understand oppression like the Native or African-American, what it is like to be undocumented in America, or the experience of an LGBTQ serviceman or veteran. How could I understand what I could never experience?
…
So, here is what I will do…I will reflect each day on who I am…I remove my veil of ignorance and embrace my having white privilege, so I can be culturally sensitive towards those who do not have an unearned privilege. My obligation as a true social worker calls me to work for social justice and advocate for equity. These are now my life goals.
To the student who wrote this. I thank you for your bravery and boldness. I applaud you for taking risks and allowing me to share your story. You have a powerful story and a powerful voice. I am so happy you were able to take a very difficult concept and glean an important perspective that will allow you to be more effective in the work you do. I am forever proud to have had you in my class. I wish you tremendous luck and success.
*A few minor edits, but this is her voice.
Stirring Up Trouble by DrVLoLil 
I praise how you overcame a difficult time in your life. I admire how you are able to point out that because of your white privilege you were given a second chance, compared to the Mexican-American going through the same situation as you were. It takes courage to admit that you have white privilege, it is most courageous to use your white privilege to fight for social justice and equity for those who do not have that privilege. It is essential to spread this awareness to others who enjoy the white privilege to achieve social justice. Especially now that power is held by majority white men who do not see others as equally human.
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For many people thinking about privilege is an ongoing challenge. Some people may not know about the power that privilege has. Like you, Dr. Littleton was the one that made me reflect on how having privilege plays a significant role in today’s society. This is my last year of college and I am glad that I was taught the importance of privilege. We all expect for people to make a change, but that change comes within you. I admire you for sharing your story and instead of ignoring it you are taking a stand and advocating for other individuals. We need more people like you that will actually take that privilege and advocate for others that have unearned privilege. Thank you for sharing your story.
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Thank you for embracing the journey of an activist. I do what I do, so that students like you can find hope and success if your pursuits.
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First, let me start with a thank you. I thank you for your courage and for your openness with discussing an issue that many leave buried deep within themselves and the result, in my experience, is the continued struggle with the disease of addiction.
I am a white man who has had a hard time hearing the term, “White Privilege.” And have no idea how I am supposed to feel about it. There is a side of myself that gets frustrated with this term, and the other more rational hand tries with all of myself to understand the struggle of the individuals that do not have “White Privilege”. The term itself brings up emotion for me and reminds me of “White Supremacy” and or “Neo-Nazi.” The idea conjures up visions of horrible abuses that have been suffered by the hand of ignorant individuals who used their “White Privilege” to make it so hard for me to be a “White Male” who is sensitive and caring who only wants to be helpful to ALL people but has to defend himself because of the bad behaviors of those individuals that I had nothing to do with.
I do not say this as a slight, and I mean ZERO disrespect to those who do not have the same freedoms I have been given based on my skin color. I do not deny that I have certain unearned and unchosen liberties that I have nothing to do with that are based solely on the color of my skin. I am just confused about what I am supposed to do about it.
I am faced with the dilemma; do I stand up against the term or do I accept that I can
never really understand my privilege because it’s all I’ve ever known. Am I am insensitive because I am angered by the implication that I am a “White Male with privilege”? Should I be offended when I try to explain my position and the eyes roll and the direction of the conversation changes because of my “Privilege”? What am I afraid of? Am I afraid to be wrong, so I don’t try? Am I afraid to ask the questions that are necessary for me to understand? How do I even ask the questions without offending the people I’m asking? What I know for sure is I do not want to be perceived by anyone as insensitive and
would never say that I understand what it feels like to be anything but a White Male.
I am willing and will remain prepared to learn how I can be helpful while getting comfortable with my uncomfortable. I will walk into my fear and be courageous. I love what Nelson Mandela said when he said, “I learned that courage was not the absence of fear, but the triumph over it. The brave man is not he who does not feel afraid, but he who conquers that fear.”
I will take my marching orders from this man and lean into my fear while remaining hopeful that I will get become more comfortable with my own uncomfortable.
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There are many people to this day that persuasively say there is no such thing as white privilege, that there are no differences between treatment of colored and white individuals. It takes courage and a big person to admit that white do have privilege on how they get treated and get perceived as. It is a big step for someone to admit they have a privilege even if they do not understand why. Treatment of individuals can change one person at a time and not allow for another person to be treated differently based on color. White privilege to this day it is something very present in our society. Unfortunately, it should not be part of society as it is unfair to those who are treated differently because of something not in their control. We should all be treated based on our actions and who we are as individuals not appearance.
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I agree, acknowledging privilege is a giant first step but then comes opportunities to ensure people are treated in fair and equitable manner.
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I’m in awe that so many people are born with this “birth right” and don’t even know that they have this privileged simply due to their race or the color of their skin. I have never experienced white privilege, but something similar to it. My parents immigrated to the United States in their early 20’s for a better life just like many others did. My father eventually became a naturalized citizen, and my mother remained a legal resident. I was born with a citizenship, with legal status, and with no worry of being sent back to another country against my will. Recently when Donald Trump announced that he would be repealing DACA, I didn’t understand the fear that others did. Most Dreamers were brought to America when they were young and don’t even know anything about their home countries. I wasn’t aware that my status was a form of privilege until then. Hearing her story made me think of the privilege that I was born with. Just as this student said, “how can I understand what I could never experience?” The answer is you can’t, but you can empathize and strive for social justice and equity.
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As I’ve grown older I’ve become increasingly annoyed with the precipitous use of the word privilege. While I am aware it exists, I have seen individuals use the word liberally to describe why one person has something over another person without proper accountability of their choices. While I believe it is important to recognize and be sensitive to our advantages, people should not be forced to feel regretful or apologetic for it. This can cause cognitive dissonance amongst individuals and lead to resentment.
I personally view privilege as a “benefit of the doubt”. As a large, Mexican American male I feel that when I walk into certain spaces with a hoodie and sweats I can be perceived as a threat, lazy or homeless. If an Anglo male is dressed the same some might think he’s just having a bad day or pay no mind at all and give him the “benefit of the doubt”. I feel like I also must constantly be more aware of my behaviors in everyday life to not be a stereotype and not fit the mold people have of me. Whenever people of a certain population do something they may not be aware that their actions can be later misrepresented an entire group.
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I look forward to a good discussion around privilege or “benefit of the doubt” tomorrow.
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Such an honest and compelling journey, thank you for sharing your experiences. Hearing it from a white woman and sharing her acknowledgment of privilege is stepping out of her brave space. I respect and commend you for the honesty. As a Filipina woman, with both parents from the Philippines, the privilege was always a struggle. I remember when I was 17, and I was working as a cashier, a white man looked at my name tag and asked me loudly “Why do you have an American name?” a simple question that literally had me speechless, I didn’t realize myself as different, because I am an American, I was born and raised in America, yet this white man’s question unexpectedly just shot me in the Heart, I then realized the privilege of others, and to be more aware of myself. I also believe privilege is not only race but also your support system in life. Others are privileged to have that support while others don’t. Privilege does exist, and it can be very emotional.
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I first want to say that I appreciate this reflection and find it empowering. Until recently, I was also unaware of the term known as “privilege”. When I thought of white privilege I had the view of it just being white men in power. I know now that it isn’t necessarily the case. I recently have been thinking of own privileges and how it may affect my life. It is unfortunate that this prejudice belongs in our society. I do, however, agree that it is important to acknowledge our own privileges in order to help advocate for the ones that do not have that privilege, instead of just being ignorant about it.
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This article is very important because it is an eye opener. I say this because privilege especially “white privilege” is something that is many individuals either know about or act like they do not know about. For example, to this day there are still from African Americans been given more prison time for white individuals who have committed the same crime or misdemeanors. This goes on to show how corrupt and unfair the law enforcement system is and how we really need need to learn about and advocate for equal rights. Even the woman in the article herself admits that her white privilege gave her a second chance as opposed to the Mexican-American woman who was given five years in prison without parole as opposed her who just received 6 months in rehab with her children. This was actually just mind blowing for me. Finally, I am no powerful judge, lawyer, or law enforcement officer but from now on, I will try my best to advocate for social justice and equity too which should’ve already been fixed by now.
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Wow! I too am a single white woman who is in recovery from addiction to drugs and alcohol. I too was arrested and sentenced to six months in jail with two felonies for my behavior. I feel that my white privilege played a huge part in my story but I never realized it until I was introduced to the concept of privilege when I returned to school in 2015. I was allowed to do a drug rehabilitation program and only had to do 90 days of my sentence and was allowed to do an in-custody program as well. When I was in custody the San Jose State University Record Clearance Project came into my dorm and did a presentation that afforded me much needed hope at the end of a dark tunnel I was traveling in. I was granted admittance into the program when I was released and had my record expunged in 2016. I don’t know if my white privilege had anything to do with this blessing but I really loved what you said about embracing our privilege to be able to help others. I too am amazed the more I learn about the privilege I was born with and come into contact with so many others who live everyday struggling to just live in this country and not be deported. Even other students I am sharing my educational experience with have so much more to worry about than me. I am blessed to have this white privilege but continue to learn about how I can help lift others up and provide opportunities for them as I learn to be a professional.
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Thank you for sharing your powerful story. I also appreciate the fact that you understand that privilege exist, whether or not it applied in this case. Trust me, your acknowledgement is meaningful and impact. Thanks for being brave enough to speak your truth.
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I really enjoyed reading this story. This woman wrote about her personal experience as is, and I appreciated how raw and truthful it was delivered. By reading this, I reflected on a time when I did a domestic violence training and this specific session was about privilege. Before the exercise began, I thought to myself “I am a Hispanic woman, what privileges do I honestly have in today’s society?” Then we were all instructed to stand in a line and after each statement we either take a step forward or backward depending on if the statement applies to us. I anticipated being behind all of the older White women in the group, but to my surprise I was also ahead of the older Hispanic women in the group. This outcome shocked me initially, but then it made sense. I thought about a generational change within the Hispanic culture. One particular statement that stood out to me “Growing up did your parents often tell you they loved you”. This exercise opened my eyes to a whole other meaning of privilege. Privilege is not just based on what you do or don’t have materialistically.
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This is such a courageous story! Thinking about and understanding privilege is something that people do not always think about. People, including myself, only understand the struggles we go through individually and do not think about what consequences we have, if any, and in majority of the time is due to the privileges with hold. White privilege is very common, but it is not the only privilege some face. Coming from the hispanic culture there is that assumption that we have less than others, but there is a privilege of coming from two working parents who both work for the state that separates me from the assumption. Both my parents have attended college and have well paying jobs which allowed me the privilege to attend college whereas there are some hispanics that struggle to get through college because of financial barriers.
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First, I would like to say thank you for sharing your story, it is very difficult to share personal life events with strangers.
I have to be honest, as I began reading your story all I can picture was a strong, courageous women who beyond her battles with addiction, she was able to rehabilitate while having her children by her side. That is so amazing and I admire her for being a warrior and getting her life together, not letting go of the second chance.
I have to share that I am very open minded and I have a huge heart so it makes it very difficult to have to have an opinion in certain topics. I have been through so much in life to be only 26 years old and being a chicana with a mother who is a drug addict and a father who had alcohol addiction.
I feel it is important to share that I choose to see the best in people I do not care how much more privilege they are or what race but only as human beings.
Obviously, I am not blinded from the fact that there are many situations were people are treated unfairly due to their race. Unfortunately, this has been the case for many years and it will continue to be if we do not educate the younger generations who are and will be the future.
We cannot change what has been and what currently is, but we can strive for equity because we all bleed blood, we all share the same air, and we are all humans.
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This student’s blog is a reflection about how she first felt when discovering the notion of white privilege. She wrote about her experiences in the judicial system and how the end result between her and a Mexican co-defendant led to varied results, with the writer gaining the easier sentence for the same crime. It was difficult to relate to this post because her personal narrative differs so greatly from my own, as I am a minority. For many, white privilege is an invisible force that white people needed to recognize and then reflect duly on. However, when she talks about her newly recognized privileges, she is not overall unhappy or disgruntled by the discovery, though she did seem shocked. I was a little disappointed when she instead thanked god to an extreme extent, before congratulating herself on what she now perceived as “unknowingly being better than others”. Despite my interpretation of how she interpreted white privilege, I do still commend this author for writing so honestly about her point of view on this topic and thinking so deeply on how she has been helped due to it. I also appreciate how she aims to be “culturally sensitive”, as a social worker.
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Thanks for sharing. Each of us has our own process of reflection on how we see ourselves connected to this “life.” For some, God is central to their being and existence. I get it, but I also understand your take. Thanks for sharing.
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This was a very eye opening article for me. It is hard to understand white privilege when you are just living your life. Most people don’t automatically think if everyone is giving the same opportunities as themselves. I like to think that I worked hard to get where I am in life right now, but to be honest white privilege probably has something to do with that as well. For me, that doesn’t make what I have done so far any less gratifying, but it does make me think about how I can help underrepresented populations. It is easy to say that I have white privilege but it is what I do with that white privilege that really makes the difference.
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I really liked this student’s reflection on her white privilege. Many of us don’t realize that we have some sort of privilege in us, big or small. I feel like we all benefit from our identities in our own way, some more than others. I really like how this student is not ignorant to the fact that other people in her same situation get handed completely different sentences. For me, the takeaway is that privilege exists in different was for all of us, it is ok to accept your privilege, but we must also acknowledge and be aware that some have more than others, we cannot remain blinded or ignorant to the truth.
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